Gov. Ricketts begins State of the State tour in South Sioux City

Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts gave his annual state of the address, in Lincoln, Thursday morning.

Afterward, he made his way to South Sioux City for the first leg of his tour to tout his message.

Ricketts spoke with media about his top priority, which he says is property taxes.

He also touted Nebraska's low unemployment rate of 2.9 percent, which is the second lowest in the country.

But, Ricketts says that also leads to challenges finding a skilled workforce.

"We've created the Nebraska Developing Youth Talent Initiative which is working with private sector companies to get them involved with our schools to help develop some of that training at an early age," said Ricketts.

Thursday, Ricketts also talked about the controversial policy the Nebraska School Activities Association board passed that would allow transgender students to participate in sports.

The board passed its Gender Participation Policy in a six-to-two vote.

"As the father of two daughters, I can tell you, I'd be very concerned about boys competing in sports against my daughters," said Ricketts. "I think what some other boards have voted for, which is gender at birth to determine this is absolutely appropriate."

He also talked about his brief visit with President Barack Obama, in Omaha, Wednesday.